St. Patrick's Day Fun Facts For Kids

Learn some St. Patrick's Day Fun Facts For Kids of all ages! We're sharing the holiday's history along with some other fun trivia questions and interesting facts.

These St. Patrick's Day fun facts for kids are a great way to understand the history of St. Patrick's Day as well as share some fun St. Patrick's Day trivia with friends and family throughout the month of March leading up to the Lucky Day!

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St. Patrick's Day Holiday

St. Patrick's Day happens during the last few days of the Winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Summer season in the Southern Hemisphere.

There are also all kinds of St. Patrick's Day celebrations full of fun for kids including crafts, games, snacks, coloring pages, and art projects. We've included a number of those to celebrate all that is St. Patrick's Day.

Before we jump right in, you will not want to miss our March Fun Facts!

What is St. Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's Day, also known as the Feast day of Saint Patrick, is a celebration of the life of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. While it started as a religious holiday over time it became a celebration of Irish culture.

When is St. Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's Day falls on March 17th every year and is the national holiday of Ireland. March 17, 461 was believed to be the day of Saint Patrick's death.

History of St. Patrick's Day

Who is St. Patrick?

He was born in a Roman Britain village in England, but as a teenager was captured by Irish raiders (Irish Pirates) and was sold into slavery in Northern Ireland. While in Ireland, he worked as a shepherd. He escaped after six years and returned to England with his family.

His birth name was Maewyn Succat but changed his name to Patrick after becoming a priest. He eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian Missionary. Saint Patrick spent the rest of his life in Ireland as a missionary teaching the Irish about his religion. He was credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.

The Irish people are thought to begin celebrating St. Patrick's Day, a religious holiday, in the 10th century, but the first official feast day was held in 1631

Fun Facts About St. Patrick's Day

There are lots of fun facts about St. Patrick's Day and the history that make it the green celebration it is today!

There were some legends around Saint Patrick. One of which was that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Although it's now known that snakes most likely didn't live in that part of the world. You will often see images of St. Patrick with a snake to this day.

St. Patrick's favored color was blue. It wasn't until the Irish independence movement in the late 18th century that St. Patrick's Day became associated with the color green.

St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun

The Leprechaun is a mythical creature from Irish folklore and is believed to be part of the fairy family. Leprechauns are described as short, red-haired men wearing green suits and are said to be the cobblers (shoe makers) of the fairy world. They would store his money (gold coins) from shoe making in pots and hide them at the end of rainbows.

They are believed to be mischievous creatures and like to play tricks on people. It is said to be good luck if you were to see the leprechaun. If you caught him, you were entitled to his wealth and granted three wishes. That is where the phrase "Luck of the Irish" came from!

Wearing green is believed to make you invisible to leprechauns. The mischievous leprechauns like to pinch anyone they can see on St. Patrick's Day meaning if you wear green attire, you will not get pinched.

Irish Shamrocks

The shamrock is a symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day.

Shamrocks are the national plant of Ireland often worn on clothes on St. Patrick's day. They are types of clovers. The word shamrock comes from the Irish word that ultimately means "Young Clover"

The shamrock is a three-leaf clover. The odds of finding a four-leaf clover is 1 in 10,000. It is considered very lucky if you find one!

It was said that St. Patrick often would compare the holy trinity to the three-leaf of the shamrock. They represented The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.

St. Patrick's Day Parades

While the first official celebration in Ireland was in 1631, the first St. Patrick's Day parade was actually held in the United States in 1601 in a Spanish colony in the United States. 30 years earlier!
The first New York City St. Patrick's parade was on March 17, 1762. This was fourteen years before the American Colonies claimed independence from Britain.
The NYC parade claims to be the oldest and largest st. patrick’s day parade with over 2 million people in attendance.
The shortest St. Patrick's Day parade is in the town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is only 98 feet long.
Chicago began its annual tradition of turning the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day in 1962.

Other St. Patrick's Day Interesting Facts

Boston was the first city in the United States to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
The St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Dublin, Ireland last four days.
The holiday switched from a strictly holy day celebrated by those in the catholic church to an official Irish public holiday in 1903
There are two countries in the world that observe St. Patrick's day as a public holiday, Ireland (including Northern Ireland) and Montserrat (a small island in the Caribbean).
Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle.
Out of the 46 presidents, half have Irish roots.

St. Patrick's Day For Kids

The Lucky holiday of St. Patrick's Day is a fun time to spend with family and friends and celebrate the fun. We have many different activities that will be fun for the whole family this St. Patrick's Day but especially for kids. Check out these fun St. Patrick's Day Activities!